Conventional visual control of electronic devices includes, typically, the ability to control a device from a distance, while occupied in other tasks. Visual control of electronic devices is also a natural and intuitive form for user interfaces.
Some conventional solutions have attempted to provide visual control by determining a direction in which a user is looking. Such solutions include head-mounted eye-tracking devices, such as helmets or eyeglasses. Other solutions include a camera affixed in place adjacent to the eyes, evaluating the orientation of the eyes relative to the orientation of the head, relative to an orientation of an associated body, and relative to known, predetermined positions of objects in the room.
However, conventional solutions suffer from a number of shortcomings. For example, accurately determining the angle of a user's vision is difficult, particularly in light of occlusions created by an eyelid. Conventional solutions are typically also expensive and overly complex, bulky and inconvenient to carry or to wear, and need extensive calibration to keep track of what objects are in the room and their exact locations. Conventional solutions are also typically intrusive to user privacy.
Thus, what is needed is a solution for an eye-controlled user interface without the shortcomings of conventional solutions.